An evening repast enjoyed outdoors inspires a flurry of counting games for a mother bear and her young cub. Mama Brown Bear ingeniously fosters her little bear’s counting abilities by encouraging him to add up the numerous ways in which he is loved. This creative quantification of his mother’s love leads Little Brown Bear to count a variety of items specifically selected to tickle a youngster’s fancy. Over their picnic supper and throughout their evening bed-time routine, Little Brown Bear discovers his mother loves him more than he likes to catch a pair of fish, munch a quartet of apples, or receive a passel of hugs from his favorite stuffed animals. First-time illustrator Moore’s selection of sunny pastels for the detailed pastoral scenes and deeper hues for the evening sequences vivify her illustrations. Playful pictures depicting the duo savoring each other’s company underscore the tale’s tender message. While there is one illustration depicting the numerals one through ten flitting across the page, the lack of any direct numeral/word/object association makes this a bit of a stretch for a first introduction to numbers for young readers. However, older ones, with a surer grasp on their number line, will enjoy this clever foray into counting. (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-525-46097-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Happiness and comfort overflow in this cozy tale of domestic bliss. An African-American boy, Jay Jay, narrates the weekly event in which “uncles and aunties, cousins and friends” all gather at Grannie’s house for Sunday dinner. Jay Jay’s mother drops him off on her way to pick up his father, so he and Grannie, whose face is as soft and warm as a down comforter, wait for the other guests. Cooke (The Grandad Tree, 2000, etc.) portrays Jay Jay’s anticipation in true child form as he repeatedly asks if dinner’s ready yet and watches restlessly out the window. The focus on Jay Jay and Grannie in the beginning might lead the reader to expect more of a story about their relationship rather than a celebration of ritual and family, but a celebration it is. Cars full of relatives finally pull up and out tumble tired, but cheerful parents and excited kids. Howard’s (One Bright Penny, p. 1395, etc.) inviting illustrations capture the complex expressions and postures of the adults and the children’s giddy and gleeful faces. The rhyming dinner menu, which Jay Jay recites, is astounding. “There were buttery peas, chicken and yams, macaroni and cheese, potatoes and ham. Biscuits, gravy, collard greens, pasta salad, rice and red beans! There was apple pie and vanilla ice cream, fresh peach cobbler covered in steam, raspberry sauce, coffee and tea—plenty, plenty for everybody!” Though a February release, the content invokes the holiday season and voices the importance of family without forcing it down anyone’s throat. Nothing else could fit after that meal anyway. (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-7636-1851-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2002
It’s pretty, but it falls far short of authenticity.
A retelling of a Persian folktale substituting tigers for people.
A tiger cub lives in a stately home built by its father. In the center of the vast gardens there is a fountain that, to the surprise of the tiger cub’s friends, contains a pair of worn-out slippers. When the cub’s friends ask why the slippers are there, the tiger’s father explains that when he was younger, he and his mother were impoverished. His mother—the tiger cub’s grandmother—made the slippers for him as an act of love. As the tiger grew older, wealthier, and more successful, he was repeatedly told that his worn, old slippers were not appropriate for his new station in life. Although he agreed, no matter how many times he tried to get rid of his slippers, they always managed to find a way back to him. Eventually, the tiger’s uncle helps him find a way to keep his slippers—and his memories of his past—without sacrificing his future. Done in Brett’s signature, paneled style, the book’s illustrations, while vibrant, read more like Western picture-book illustrations than the Mughal miniature style the author claims as her inspiration. Furthermore, although they are beautifully detailed, at times, the number of panels makes the pages feel crowded. The text is well paced, but Brett’s choice to retell the folktale using animals instead of people comes across as exoticizing at a time when the current Indian government is systematically erasing Muslim, particularly Mughal, history.
It’s pretty, but it falls far short of authenticity. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-399-17074-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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